I subscribe to a few health periodicals. Although there might be a slew of information that I already knew, the information that is new to me is a gem under a boulder. I learned, for instance, that you should be careful of your use of vitamin A, vitamin E, and beta-carotene supplements because these antioxidants that protect cells against free radicals, may also protect cancer cells. This means that sometimes my information may not have a link.

When losing weight, many of us reach a plateau where we seem we can’t lose any more weight. Denise Austin gives a few tips on how to move past this stage. I’m trying to go past this stage at this time. I am watching my portions and pushing myself a bit longer in my activities. I am also trying to change my routine, to a point.

Speaking of portion control and reading the nutrition label, I found that I am getting too much sodium in my diet. Even in healthy foods. I’m on a mission to watch my sodium at all costs. I use very little salt when I make my meals from scratch. I’ve devised a trick that I am using and I’ll use my cottage cheese and salsa mix that I heard about on Dr. Oz.

A serving size of cottage cheese is 1/2 cup. A 16 oz. Container has 4 servings. Sodium per serving is 470 mg. or 20% of your daily value. The salsa has 240 mg. or 10% of your dv. That’s 30% sodium in one meal. I have decided to reduce the servings. If I can get 5-7 servings from the cottage cheese, instead of 4, and I get over 20 servings of salsa, instead of the 15 per container, I’ve cut the sodium. It’s a start. Another thing I do is wash can foods, or run water, to reduce the sodium!

I thought I was going to move to an apartment complex with a gym, but that fell through. Since I still want to quit my gym, I am going to purchase what I consider essentials for me. Since I do alot of walking at work, I’ll get an indoor bike for my cardio. I have weights, a heart monitor, a kettlebell, and a metal cable chest extender. I am planning on acquiring a couple more kettlebells, a medicine ball, a stability ball, a bench, and get some sort of exercise bands or cables.

According to a UCLA study these are the top ten foods to help you live a longer healthier life: